Only the Good Die Young
by SirusBlackRules
Summary: DMHG fic. Each chapter based on a song, and that song is included in the chapter. Extra long chapters, why not just check it out? Reviews appreciated! Chap 3 Up
1. Kareoke is Evil

ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG  
  
By the way, HP and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and the song "Only The Good Die Young" belongs to Billy Joel.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~  
  
Draco Malfoy peered out from behind his plate. A lock of platinum gold hair fell into his eyes as he searched the Great Hall.  
  
*Where IS she?* he thought. As he looked over at the Gryffindor table, gray eyes met with brown.  
  
His lips turned to a grin, and he inclined his head, ever so slightly, to the doors. A quick smile told him that she had gotten the message. Draco dropped his fork to his plate, and got up.  
  
"Stay here. I would like to take a walk alone." He said to the two huge boys, who had gotten up to follow him. They shrugged and sat down again, starting now on the desserts, which had just appeared.  
  
Draco placed his hands in his pockets, and he walked out the hallway. He leaned against the cold stonewall. But he didn't shiver; as he was use to the coolness, having to live in the Slytherin Dungeons for six full years. He grinned evilly as Hermione Granger's form appeared from the doorway.  
  
"Ah, dear church woman! I do believe you are late..." he said, grabbing her waist and pulling her into a tight embrace. Hermione scowled.  
  
"God, Draco! Do you WANT us to be caught?" She asked impatiently. "And I would appreciate it if you DIDN'T call me 'church woman' anymore. I am not like that!"  
  
"Oh, really? Why do I NOT believe you?" He replied, bushing a strand of stray hair from her face.  
  
"Ahem! I am actually very mischievous, thank you very much!" She said, pushing the strand back in front of her face, her eyes gleaming.  
  
"Well, I wish you would show me HOW mischievous you were..." he trailed off, smirking. Hermione couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"You are a perverted little freak, you know that?" She said, but leaned in and kissed him anyway.  
  
"Hmm... You need to do stuff like that more often."  
  
"Yes, I am sure you think so!" With that she leaned in and kissed him. He smiled and kissed back. Suddenly, she pulled away. Draco looked at her confused and dazed.  
  
"No, no... no. Draco, w-we can't." she breathed, pushing back from him.  
  
"What?" He asked, blinking in shock. "What the hell do you mean, we can't?"  
  
"Just what I said. W-we can't."  
  
"And why the bloody hell not?"  
  
"B-because someone-someone found out."  
  
There was a slight pause. In this moment, Hermione could see Draco's eyes turn colder. He spoke, his voice much colder and calmer than before.  
  
"Who." he demanded softly.  
  
"Well, I have no idea how she found out, a-and I'm not sure if she is t- telling the truth, but-" She trailed off. Draco turned her head with his hand.  
  
"Tell me who." He said in the most calm voice Hermione had heard in a long time.  
  
She closed her eyes, and whispered. "My mother. She sent a letter just this morning. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner."  
  
There was a moments pause, when Draco smiled and softly laughed.  
  
"Very good." he mumbled, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"What? What are you talking about? This is horrible!" Hermione protested, taking a few steps back from him, as if he were crazy.  
  
Draco didn't move, still with that soft, almost earily sweet smile on his face.  
  
"Hermione, does your mother go to school here?"  
  
Hermione didn't move, she just stared at him. Where was he going with this?  
  
"Well?"  
  
She cleared her throat, and replied "No, of course not."  
  
"There, you see. The answer. Someone at school must have found out. They are telling her. This is a simple problem to fix."  
  
"What? How so?"  
  
"Well, you can do one of two things. The first, find out who the acompliss is, and kill him."  
  
"What!?! Are you crazy? Kill someone?"  
  
"Or, you could take the easier route. Lie."  
  
"...Lie?"  
  
"Yes. You're mother never actually saw us, did she?"  
  
"Well, no, but-"  
  
"Then she has no proof agianst us. Deny anything and everything."  
  
"What? Hold on a moment, Draco. Lie to my MOTHER?"  
  
Malfoy looked at her and nodded.  
  
"I-I can't lie to my MOTHER! S-she's my-my mother!"  
  
"Meaning she will be easier to lie to. Mothers always belive their daughters."  
  
"It doesn't matter! I can't and would never lie to my mother!"  
  
Draco looked at her, his eyes wide.  
  
"You have to. If you don't, we-we can't be together."  
  
"I-I know that, Draco."  
  
"You're willing to sacrifice me, and what we have, just because you won't lie to you mother?"  
  
"Yes! I will never lie to her. Not for anything."  
  
"Not even love?"  
  
She pause. "No. Not even for love."  
  
Draco just stared at her. His voice seemed to tremble as he next spoke.  
  
"Hermione. You don't seem to be understanding this! This isn't just a little relationship! This is love! I love you!"  
  
"And I love you!"  
  
"Than lie!"  
  
"I won't!"  
  
Draco was now shaking, and his seemingly perfect hair was falling out of place. Hermione had to admit, she had never seen him-- so-so-what's a good word for it? So... un-powerful.  
  
"H-Hermione," he whispered, almost begging her. His voice seemed to cut through her heart, and she felt three hot tears leak down her cheek. "Hermione. Think-think about US. Please... please, do it, do it for us." He begged. Hermione couldn't handle it. She leaned in, kissed his face, and ran down the hallway, crying.  
  
Draco stood there for a long time. He didn't notice it when he started to walk down to the Slytherin Common room. As he collapsed onto a couch, he realized what had just happened. He stared across the room, not really seeing anything, not really feeling anything. Suddenly, he felt something on his cheek. He brought his hand up to it, and felt a small drop of water.  
  
Tears.  
  
Draco Malfoy hadn't cried since he was four years old. Only then he had because his father had beat him, for crying. It was then he had learned that crying was not allowed. Now, hot tears seemed to come from his eyes. He ran to his bed, threw open the curtains, and collapsed onto it, crying like he never had before in his life.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione Granger was always very controlling. She told people what to do, told them when to do it and how she wanted it done. She controlled every speck of her emotions, and could change from angry to calm in less than two seconds. But today, everything seemed to have stopped. All she could do was cry. She sat in her four-poster, her face red and wet, her voice horse and strained from yelling.  
  
"DAMN YOU!! DAMN YOU DRACO!! GOD!! I HATE YOU! I hate you!! I-I-I h-h-hate y-y-you!!" She screamed into her pillow, not noticing how painful it was to talk. Her throat burned form screaming, but she didn't care. Damn Draco! He had to be evil, his father had to be bad! He HAD to be in Slytherin! He HAD to be Harry and Ron's enemy, he just HAD to be-well, DRACO!  
  
Hermione cried louder with every thought, and finally drifted off to a fitful sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco got up and decided to take a walk. He would have rather stayed in bed, but all the other Slytherins kept asking him why his face was all red and wet.  
  
"I fell during practice." He would simply say, trying to get to the exit. Finally, after at least thirty people questioning him, Draco stepped out into the cold hallways of the dungeons. He took a deep breath, and began to walk. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and ended up in the main hallway. He looked up as a loud giggling filled his ears. A group of girls were standing by the wall opposite him. They were looking at a poster, and whispering to each other. Deciding he had nothing better to do, Draco walked over, hoping to get a glimpse of what the girls seemed so interested in. But the moment he got a good view, two of the girls rounded on him.  
  
"Excuse me," one of them said, angrily, "Your Draco Malfoy, right?"  
  
Draco nodded, not sure of who she was. But, now that he thought of it, she did look a bit familiar... He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hand come flashing across his face. She slapped him!  
  
"What the bloody hell was that for?" he screamed, holding his cheek. The girl grinned, pleased with herself.  
  
"For hurting Hermione, that's what!" The one next to her yelled. It was then that Draco recognized the two girls. They were Hermione's friends.  
  
"Parvatie! Lavender!" He exclaimed, a bit shocked, a bit angry.  
  
"Glad to know you recognized us. For a second there, we thought you had forgotten!" Lavender seethed from behind her best friend. "You are a little bastard!" she added.  
  
Draco was about to reply rudely, but then it came to him. Hermione had obviously told them that he had dumped her. That would be so like her...  
  
Parvatie spoke next, angrily. "Do you have any idea what you did to Hermione?"  
  
Draco only turned his head, looking back to the way he had came. For some reason, them talking about Hermione seemed to make it about a hundred times worse. She didn't care... she just didn't care. She told her friends that he had dumped her... how could she?  
  
"Well, I guess you don't! God, you little heartless bastard! How could you be so-so heartless? You deserve to be run over by a herd of Hippogriff's!! Hermione is in tears because of you, you brat! I don't know how anyone could hurt such a wonderful girl! I mean, she-"  
  
"SHUT UP" Draco screamed. He had had it. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON!!!! I DIDN'T BREAK HERMIONE'S HEART, SHE BROKE MINE!!!! AND DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT?!? I LOVED HER! I STILL DO! *he turned to the empty hall and bellowed at it* DO YOU HEAR THAT WORLD? I AM IN LOVE WITH HERMIONE GRANGER! I AM IN LOVE WITH A GOD-DAMMNED MUDBLOOD!!! MOCK ME!!!! I LOVE HERMIONE GRANGER!!!"  
  
The hallway echoed his message back to him, answering his insitance to "mock him".  
  
The girls stared at him. Draco put one hand against the wall, and leaned on it, his face pointed towards the ground.  
  
"That's right." He said, now practically whispering. "You herd me. I-I love Hermione. I love her. And she doesn't even care. She doesn't care..."  
  
Parvatie looked completely shocked, and Lavender was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Y-you love her? B-but then why did you break up with her?" Parvatie asked. The other girls in the group seemed to be completely moved by what Draco had said, and were all crying, or wipeing their eyes. Draco shook his head slowly, and spoke as if all his energy had been taken away.  
  
"I didn't break up with her. She broke up with me."  
  
Parvatie placed a hand on his shoulder, which made Draco flinch.  
  
"Ma-Draco... look... I-we didn't know. And, we'd...er... do anything to help. Right girls?" Draco heard the nodding of heads, but didn't look.  
  
"Right. Now, Mal-Draco. What happened, exactly?"  
  
Draco sat down on the hard, stone, cold floor, and started to explain from the beginning.  
  
At the end of the story, Lavender had completely broken down, and was sobbing into her robes, while all the other girls were wiping away tears. Parvatie seemed to be the only one who hadn't cried that night.  
  
"Draco," she said, strongly, "I have the perfect plan. Karaoke."  
  
It took a moment, but then Draco remembered. There was to be a Karaoke- dance-party that night. He had only decided not to go because he and Hermione were to go to the lake for the night...  
  
The other girls suddenly seemed to have been filled with the giggles. They all mumbled things like "Perfect!" and "Wonderful idea, Parvatie!".  
  
Draco nodded. Anything to get Hermione back. But what exactly WAS karaoke?  
  
"Right. I have the perfect song and everything! It explains everything that is going on between you two right now. How Hermione seems to be too good and all that... it is a BIT upbeat, but Hermione wouldn't want a romantic song anyway." Her voice faltered a bit here, "And besides, if she still says no, you can always tell everyone that it was just for fun!"  
  
Draco looked at her, but he didn't have time to ask what the song was. Parvatie was already taking him up the corridor to get him ready.  
  
"Huh? Wait! What about Hermione? I doubt she will want to come out to see Karaoke!"  
  
"Ah, just leave HER to us! All you have to do is get ready, learn the song, practice and look good!"  
  
With that, the girls shoved him into a bathroom, and began to get him prepared.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
About half an hour later, Hermione awoke with a start. She looked up groggily to see two girls standing there, positively beaming.  
  
"Hello Hermione! Ready?"  
  
"Wha...?" she asked, completely confused. Her head felt as though a thousand bludgers had hit it all at once. It throbbed...  
  
"I asked you if you were ready!"  
  
"Ready for wha...?" she asked again, this time holding her head.  
  
"The Karaoke! Dur!" Parvatie squealed. Hermione's head spun.  
  
"Owe.. Sorry Parvatie, but I am not in the mood..." she mumbled, pulling the covers over her head.  
  
Parvatie sighed. "Get UP!" she yelled, pointing her wand at her best friends bed. Hermione was flung out of it. She landed on her knees and hands, and turned red.  
  
"PARVATIE PATIL!!! HOW DARE YOU!!! I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO GO TO ANY KARAOKE PARTY!!! I HAVE A TERRIBLE HEADACHE and I want to... stay... in bed." She slowed down as she realized her headache was gone. As she looked down, she also realized that she was dressed in a beautiful blue dress and her hair was done up and curled. "How did you...?" she trailed off, staring at her clothes.  
  
"Ah, oldest trick in the book. Now c'mon!" she smiled, grabbing her friends arm, Hermione obeyed, feeling slightly better about herself.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco stomped around in circles. Was he really about to do this? He looked down at himself. His nicest robes. He glanced out passed the curtain. People were starting to file in. God... Hermione was one of them...  
  
**You are an idiot.** came a small voice from his head,  
  
*I am not.* he replied, angrily, still searching for Parvatie or Lavender.  
  
**Yes you are! Your going to go make a fool of yourself in front of the entire school, just for a stupid girl!**  
  
*She is not stupid!!!* he yelled back in his mind.  
  
**Yes she is! Draco, c'mon! Think of you HONOR! Your POWER! Your LIFE!!!!**  
  
*Hermione IS my honor, my power, AND my life!* he thought, determinedly.  
  
**What will your father say if he finds out? Excuse me, WHEN he finds out!!!**  
  
*He can deal with it. He's a big boy.*  
  
**He'll kill you, LITERALLY!**  
  
*Hermione is worth my life. Now shut up, its starting!*  
  
**Fine... your funeral.**  
  
Draco sighed contently as he watched Lee Jordan walk onto the stage. He talked a few moments, than called the first singers, a group of second year girls. Draco groaned. He hope he wasn't the only guy here...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione nearly screamed when she got into the Great Hall. All the tables had been lined up the opposite way, to form a weak form of bleachers. Hermione took a seat next to Lavender, who was smiling at Harry. Parvatie sat behind her.  
  
*Great, their surrounding me!* she thought to herself. Harry waved.  
  
"Hey Hermione! I thought you wanted to sleep tonight?"  
  
" I did! These girls brought me along." She nodded to the two surrounding her. Harry laughed.  
  
"Ron decided to do a song! It aught'a be funny!" He laughed, but Hermione only nodded. What was Draco doing right now?  
  
She didn't have time to think though, as Lee Jordan came out onto the stage. He talked for a few moments, than introduced a group of second year girls. Hermione sighed and put her head on her hand. This was gonna be a long night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco was hyperventilating. There was no way he could do this... no way. Hermione would laugh... or someone would laugh, or he would choke. He had to get away... he had to go somewhere, anywhere! But before he could, someone pushed him onto the stage as Lee spoke clearly to the crowd:  
  
"And finally, we have *cough* Draco Malfoy, singing 'Only The Good Die Young!' Give it up!"  
  
Draco walked onto the stage to hoots of laughter from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. The Slytherins just stared in disbelief. He put the mike to his mouth, took a deep breath, and began to sing as the music played in the background.  
  
"Come out Hermione, don't let me wait.  
  
You catholic girls start much to late.  
  
Ah, but sooner or later, it comes down to fate.  
  
I might as well will be the one.  
  
Well they showed you a statue,  
  
Told you to pray,  
  
built you a tower and locked you away.  
  
Ah, but they never told you the price it would pay,  
  
the things that you might have done.  
  
Only the good die young!  
  
That's what I said!!!  
  
Only the good diiie young,  
  
only the good die young!  
  
You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd,  
  
We know we're pretty, we know we're proud.  
  
We might be laughing a bit too loud,  
  
Ah but that never hurt no one!  
  
So come on Hermione!  
  
Show me a sign! Send up a signal, I throw you the line!  
  
That stain-glass curtain your hiding behind, It never lets in the sun.  
  
Darling only the good die young!  
  
Wo wo wo wo wo!!  
  
I tell ya only the good diiie young!  
  
Only the good die young!  
  
Ya got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation!  
  
You got a brand new soul, and a cross of gold!  
  
But Herms, they didn't give you quite enough information!  
  
You didn't count on me, When you were counting on your rosary! Oh oh oh!  
  
They say there's a heaven for those who will wait!  
  
Some say its better, but I say it ain't!  
  
I'd rather laugh with the sinners that cry with the saints,  
  
The sinners are much more fun!  
  
You know that only the good die young!  
  
Oh wo babay!  
  
I tell ya, only the good die young!  
  
Only the good die young!  
  
Said your mother told me all that I could give you was a reputation!  
  
Oh, she never cared for me!  
  
Did she ever say a prayer for me? Oh Oh Oh!  
  
Come out, come out, come out, Mione don't let me wait!  
  
You catholic girls start much to late!  
  
Sooner or later it comes down to fate,  
  
I might as well will be one one!  
  
You know that only the good die young!  
  
Tell ya babay!  
  
You know that only the good diiie young!  
  
Only the good die young!  
  
Only the goooooooooood, only the good die young!!  
  
Who who whoooooooo who whooo who who whooo who whooooooo!!!!  
  
Who who whoooooooo who whooo who who whooo who whooooooo!!!!"  
  
Draco stopped singing the second the music stopped. The Great Hall was quiet. No one moved. The only sound heard was Hermione, who seemed to be hyperventilating. Draco felt, for the first time in his life, really embarrassed. All the other times he was insulted by Potty or Weasle, those were NOTHING compared to this. That little voice peeped up from his head.  
  
**Ha! Oh, you have no idea how funny you look, Dracy-pie! Hahah! This is too hilarious! Someone get a camera!**  
  
*S-shut up.* he said, and ignored what the little voice had to say after that. He began to walk off the stage, when a girl called out his name.  
  
"Wait! Wait! Draco!" She called. Draco turned around to see Hermione practiacally tripping up the stairs to get onto the stage. Partly because she was eager to see him, the other part because she was wearing high- heels.  
  
"What are you wearing?" He asked, looking at her feet. She smiled a bit.  
  
"Parvatie. She's great, isn't she?" Draco smiled. Suddenly, Hermione's face became serious.  
  
"Draco. I-I'm sorry. I never should have done that, I was stupid. I-I mean, lying to my mom? How easy! I just noticed that I must have done it a billion times before, but I never noticed that I had until now. I-I'm sorry."  
  
"No." Draco said, smiling. "No, It's my fault. I shouldn't have told you to lie. That was mean, and rude. No way would I make a good impression on your mother if she found out I had ASKED you to lie to her."  
  
Hermione smiled, but still stood a bit away from him.  
  
"You know, we must sound like idiots." Hermione said, smiling, and gesturing to the crowd. She had never felt so at ease in front of such a huge amount of people before, "I mean, so cliché, huh? 'I'm sorry, dear, my fault!' than 'No, no, honey, its all my fault!' What, are we gonna do next, kiss or something?\"  
  
"My thoughts exactly." Draco said, pulling her into a tight embrace. Hermione melted into his arms as he kissed her with all the passion and love he possessed. They broke apart for a moment, in which Hermione smiled and said weakly:  
  
"Yes, well, I've always loved clichés!"  
  
Draco grinned and kissed her again. For the moment, the two forgot about everything. Their parent's wraths, the crowd, even that they were indeed in the world. They were lost in each other's arms.  
  
And that is how they wanted it to stay.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~  
  
Well? What do you think? I MIGHT add a chapter, if people ask me to. And I will probably go back and make some changes to this, once I find some. SO PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP? REVIEW!! 


	2. The Fight and the Try Outs

Hey you all. Ya'll. Er...yeah. People wanted me to update this...and so I shall! And I decided to  
  
make this a huge D/H fic! Huh? Oh yeah! PWA!!! Okay, here are a few things first off :  
  
-This is a song fiction. Every chapter has a song in it- and they are probably gonna be about  
  
Draco/Hermione. I might make a few about Ron being jealous of Draco/Hermione, or one about  
  
Harry/Ginny- I ain't too sure right about now. But I do know that this is DEFIANTLY a DM/HG  
  
fic. SO GET USE TO IT, ALL YOU NOT DM/HG FANS OUT THERE! Personally, I think Ron  
  
and Hermione were made for each other, but those stories wouldn't have anything interesting in  
  
them. No angst, no worries. Just bickering and arguing. *sigh* Anyway, next order of business.  
  
-~*~*~*~*~*~I HEAR-BY DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER TO KrAzYkEyZ BECAUSE SHE  
  
WAS MY VERY FIRST REVIEWER!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
***Confetti falls all over the place, and a bunch of balloons get caught in a net above everyone's  
  
heads. I cough loudly, and someone goes up and gets them all unstuck-so a bunch of balloons  
  
fall everywhere.*** Erm.. *ahem*... well, there is not gift, sorry , but you do get yoru name in  
  
the middle of lots of really cool little asterisks and swirly things... that has gotta be pretty cool!  
  
  
  
Disclaimer Thingy: Okay- If I owned Harry Potter, would I be writing fan fictions about it on  
  
FF.net? I don't think so. And sorry for the OOC ness... guess I had to kinda do it this way... And  
  
'Wake Me Up Inside' is by Evanescence. And 'I Don't Give a Damn about my Bad Reputation'  
  
belongs to Joan Jet. (Want to know something cool I just found out? If you are reading any  
  
romance story, listen to the 'Love Theme' from Star Wars Episode 2-attack of the clones. It  
  
makes it seem so much more romantic!)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"The Try-Outs"  
  
The only bad thing was that it couldn't stay like that. It took them a moment to notice, but when  
  
they looked out into the crowd, almost everyone was giving them a standing ovation. Hermione  
  
couldn't tell whether or not anyone believed that this was real, or just another part of the act. But  
  
either way, she liked it! She and Draco bowed, laughing, and walked off the stage to hoots from  
  
the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table. The Slytherin table was applauding, but only because they  
  
thought Draco would kill them if they didn't. The Gryffindor table laughed as they applauded,  
  
telling each other about how they thought something was wrong with Hermione the past few weeks.  
  
"She seemed, so-so HAPPY!" Lavender was telling everyone who would listen. "Whenever we  
  
use to go to bed, she would pull out a book, and close her curtains. But for the past few weeks,  
  
she wouldn't even get back till late!"  
  
There were only two people who seemed to have not moved since Draco had started to sing.  
  
"Hmm... Well, I thought something was wrong with her, but I never expected this, eh Ron?"  
  
Harry asked, a smile playing at his lips. Ron didn't respond. He had already done his song, and  
  
had come back to sit with Harry.  
  
"Ron?" He asked again, his smile fading. Ron just looked up at him, his face a bit redder than  
  
normal. He glared at Harry for a few moments, than grabbed his stuff, and raced out of the Great  
  
Hall, extremely pissed.  
  
"Uh-oh. This can't be good." Harry muttered to himself.  
  
"Yep. Crazy, isn't it?" Harry looked up to see Fred and George, who were apparently answering  
  
his rhetorical statement. " Those two together? Never would have expected it, eh mate?" Fred  
  
asked, glancing at the couple now leaving the great hall together. All the tables (except Slytherin)  
  
were now hooting madly, grinning, and clapping.  
  
  
  
"Nope, never in a million years! I thought she hated him!" George said, "Well, anyway, sucks to  
  
Ron."  
  
Fred and George laughed, and were about to leave, when Harry grabbed Fred's arm.  
  
"What? What sucks to Ron?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"What? You didn't know, Harry?" George asked, looking at his brother. It was as if they had been  
  
waiting to tell someone who didn't know already for AGES. "Ron's loved Hermione since second  
  
year!"  
  
Harry's heart fell. He had always thought so, but he had never actually thought Ron had admitted  
  
it to himself.  
  
"Yeah!" Fred continued for his twin, "We read his journal! Mum made him write one when he  
  
started getting sad during the summer. It never occurred to her he was just tired.... anyway, turned  
  
out that after Hermione got petrified, Ron, and I quote, 'felt something I hadn't before'. He  
  
thought she was going to die!"  
  
The twins laughed.  
  
"Hey, that reminds me Fred. We haven't checked little Ronnikin's journal in a while, have we?"  
  
George wondered out loud. Fred grinned and the two of them walked away, sporting that evil  
  
little smile they always had when they were about to do something wrong.  
  
  
  
Harry looked at the doors, where Hermione and Draco had already walked through. He decided  
  
he would tell Hermione about Ron. If he didn't, he was sure Ron would do something drastic.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Across the hall, there stood the only other person who had absolutely loathed this pairing.(No not  
  
a reviewer!) Pansy Parkinson sat at her table, fuming as the pair left the Great Hall to such applause.  
  
"He-was-mine. Draco-loved-me. Damn mudblood-kill-blood..." she mumbled, gritting her teeth,  
  
watching as the two kissed and walked out the doors to the hallway. There had to be a way to get  
  
them separated. She could have an affair with Draco, than tell Hermione. No... too cliché. Plus,  
  
Draco would never even touch her, never mind do THAT. She could kill Hermione! No... there  
  
was no use in going to Azkaban just for Draco. She wasn't in love, just very revengeful. God,  
  
there had to be SOME way to get the two in tro----  
  
"AHA!" She shouted out loud, and it made the people around her jump. She grabbed her bag, and  
  
ran past everyone else. Why hadn't she thought of it before? She had to be the stupidest person  
  
alive. The only person Draco had ever listened to was the same person who would kill him for  
  
this. Pansy raced up to the owlry. There was only one person who Draco had ever feared. He had  
  
told Pansy stories about this man. About how horrible it was to live with him. About how he  
  
would hit Draco for anything he did wrong. As Pansy got out her pen and parchment, she grinned  
  
to herself. Draco would be knocked unconscious for this, maybe even killed. She started to write:  
  
Dear Mr. Lucius Malfoy...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Harry raced to catch up to his old friend.  
  
"Hermione!" He called. She didn't hear him; she was too busy kissing Draco good-bye. Harry tried  
  
to get her attention, but the couple was locked in a passionate kiss. He sighed, and looked around.  
  
For a moment, he was only biding his time until they broke apart. But as he was looking, his eyes  
  
fell upon a statue. It wasn't the statue that caught his eye; it was the red hair sticking out from  
  
behind it. Ron.  
  
Harry walked over to talk to him, but before he could, Ron stood up to get a better view. His eyes  
  
were beet red, and his cheeks were wet. Harry had never seen Ron cry before. In fact, he couldn't  
  
remember a time when he was even sad enough TO cry... well, there was the time in his second  
  
year when Ginny was taken, but that was past tears. That wasn't even sadness... it was total  
  
depression. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Hermione and Draco pulled out of their kiss.  
  
Harry walked a bit closer, hoping to get to Hermione before Ron got to Draco.  
  
"I love you, Hermione Granger." Draco whispered, his forehead against hers.  
  
Harry looked at Ron, who seemed to have gotten angrier. His face was now blotched with white,  
  
as the color was slowly draining out of it. Hermione looked deep into Draco's eyes, and replied.  
  
"I love you too, Draco Malfoy." She whispered. Ron's face had drained of all color, and he was  
  
now looking as though someone had just foretold his death. On the contrary, Draco looked as if  
  
he had been given the best present in the entire world. He picked Hermione up by the waist, and  
  
spun in a circle. Hermione laughed as Draco brought her down again. He kissed her once more,  
  
passionately as ever, and twirled his finger in her hair.  
  
"I don't want to leave you. Tonight was too wonderful." He said, gazing into her eyes.  
  
"Ah, but you never will leave me!" Hermione said, in a mocking voice. She was obviously  
  
quoting something they had both seen in a movie, because Draco laughed. "I will always be in  
  
your heart.*her voice grew serious* I will always be with you. I will always love you." She said,  
  
now whispering again. Draco kissed her once more, when there seemed to be an explosion behind  
  
Harry. He looked over his shoulder, to see that the Great Hall was now exiting.  
  
"Until tomorrow, my love!" Draco called sarcastically, being swept away by the Slytherins.  
  
Hermione laughed, and blew him a kiss. Draco's face disappeared into the sea of students, all  
  
talking about that night. Harry practically swam his way over to Hermione, the only person still  
  
standing in one place.  
  
"Hermione! HERMIONE!" She looked over, and waved to Harry.  
  
"Harry!" She said, giving him a huge hug. Harry just looked around uncomfortably. He didn't  
  
want Ron to see this, or he might be next on his kill list.  
  
"Did you see? Did you see? Oh, of course you saw! You were there! Oh, Harry! Isn't this  
  
wonderful?" She asked. Harry turned red.  
  
"Um, yeah. It's great. Hermione, can I talk to you?" Hermione nodded, as Harry pulled her  
  
through the crowd into an empty classroom.  
  
Hermione did some kind of twirl thing as Harry closed the door, and sat down in a chair, beaming.  
  
"What is it that you wanted, Harry?" She asked. Harry felt horrible about ruining her perfect  
  
mood, but it was either this or tomorrow she would find Draco dead on the ground and Ron  
  
laughing manically next to him.  
  
  
  
"Err... H-Hermione? I-I think you need to know something. Its-its about Ron."  
  
Hermione looked at him. "What about Ron? He hasn't hurt himself again, has he?"  
  
"No-no, he hasn't hurt himself. Nothing like that... its just that, well..." he trailed off to look at the  
  
wall behind Hermione.  
  
"What Harry?" She asked impatiently.  
  
"He-he likes you. Like, really, really likes you. Ron- Ron loves you, Hermione."  
  
She sat there for a moment, not quite letting it sink in. Her face slowly turned whiter and whiter  
  
until she could have blended in with a cloud.  
  
"He-he l-loves me?" She whispered, so quiet that Harry barely heard her.  
  
"Yeah." He answered. Hermione just kind of looked at the wall.  
  
"Um... what do I do?" She asked Harry.  
  
"Err... I dunno. Just make sure he doesn't kill Mal-er, Draco, I suppose. He's hated Mal- er, Draco  
  
all his life, you know. Hated his family and everything. Now the girl he likes, and his best friend,  
  
is dating him? How would you feel?"  
  
Hermione just looked sideways. "I'm not going to break up with him, you know."  
  
"I know! I know! And I- I don't expect you to, its just- I guess it's a warning. Be careful how much  
  
you do around Ron, I guess. He was watching you tonight, after you got off the stage, you know."  
  
"He was? From where?"  
  
"Behind a statue."  
  
"Oh. Oh no... well, I really have to go, Harry." She said suddenly. She grabbed her things, and ran  
  
out the door, and raced back to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"She better have a plan..." Harry thought, following her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It had been three weeks since that night, and Hermione and Draco were doing fine. Apart from  
  
Snape now treating Malfoy like a piece of crap, that is. Ron, for some strange reason, was talking,  
  
although he had stayed in his bed the entire day after Karaoke night. Now, though, he seemed to  
  
be able to talk, although he didn't pay much attention to Hermione, and completely ignored  
  
Malfoy. Malfoy had tried to talk to him, but Ron had hated him BEFORE the whole 'Hermione'  
  
thing, so everyone doubted that would help much. Harry was having a hard time adjusting to  
  
talking to Malfoy, who was also having a hard time adjusting to talking to Potty. All in all, the  
  
three boys didn't talk to each other much, Ron preferring not to talk whenever Malfoy came  
  
around, and Harry preferring to talk to Hermione over anyone else. Oh, and Pansy was preferring  
  
to just sit and take notes all day, glancing up at Draco and Hermione frequently. It was all very confusing.  
  
But for the moment, Hermione Granger didn't really care much about any of that. She was  
  
walking down the hallway, her hand in the hand of Draco Malfoy, laughing and joking. As she  
  
walked, she noticed a group of people all looking at a poster.  
  
"Oh god..." Draco mumbled next to her, "not another poster..."  
  
She looked him perplexed, but walked up and read the poster.  
  
"Draco!" She said, coming back to stand next to him. He looked up at her and smiled.  
  
"Hmm, let me guess. Another Karaoke night. Hum?"  
  
"No! Even better!" Hermione said, grinning just to spite Draco. "A play!"  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A play! 'Beauty and the Beast'! I've loved that movie since I was little."  
  
"Oh have you? Congratulations." Draco said, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Hermione  
  
shrugged.  
  
"Yeah. Try outs are tomorrow night. I'm going."  
  
"Like I said congra- WO, what?"  
  
  
  
"I am trying out for the play."  
  
"Why would you want to do that?"  
  
"I don't know, just to be spontaneous, I suppose."  
  
"SPONTANEOUS? That play won't take place for months!"  
  
"Actually, we have four weeks."  
  
"Four weeks?! To memorize lines? I don't think so."  
  
"Aww," Hermione teased, "Little Draky-Waky scared of memorizing a foo itsy- bisty wines?"  
  
"No, little Draky-Waky is scared of making a fool of himself in front of the whole school."  
  
"Oh, c'mon! You did it before!"  
  
"Yeah, but that was to win YOU over! Big difference. I won you, and now I am trying to gain  
  
back my respect."  
  
"Fine. I never asked you to be in it anyway! I am trying out tonight."  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Fine!" Hermione scowled, turned away from Draco, and smiled to herself. "I knew you wouldn't  
  
want to. You've never been too good at memorizing in short periods of time, have you?"  
  
"Wha- exCUSE me?" Draco asked, walking forward. His honor had just been insulted!  
  
Hermione wiped the smile off her face and spun around to face Draco. "I was just thinking about  
  
how no matter where it has been, I have been better than you at memorizing. Transfiguration,  
  
Herbology, Arithmacy, Muggle studies, even Potions! I've always been better than you because I  
  
am much better at memorizing things. I can see why you wouldn't want to have to memorize such  
  
important things in such a small amount of time, and believe me, I don't blame you at all-"  
  
"I'll have you know!" Draco interrupted, seriously. "I'll have you know that I am very good at  
  
memorizing things in a short amount of time! I memorized those song lyrics in less than three  
  
hours! And I am getting a MUCH higher grade in potions than you! Well, I was... than Snape  
  
found out about us, and well..."  
  
"Yes, that was the only reason you got better grades than me in Potions! Because you were a  
  
muggleborn-hating Slytherin, that's why! Face it, Mr. Malfoy, I am smarter than you!" Hermione  
  
said, starting to think that starting this argument wasn't such a good idea.  
  
Malfoy looked at her, his eye's blazing. "Face it? Face WHAT? I am much better than any  
  
muggleborn, Granger! And I will prove it!" He screamed. His eyes were now back to their normal  
  
evil-gray color, and the people in the hallways were turning to watch them.  
  
"I'd like to see you try, Malfoy! If you can't even correctly do a play in Quidditch, how will you be  
  
able to do a REAL one?!?" Hermione retorted, referring to his big mistake in the last Quidditch  
  
game. There was a hush. Everyone knew not to insult Draco on his Quidditch skills... it was  
  
known to most that his father had beaten him for his previous mistake. Hermione took a breath.  
  
Stupid mistake. Very stupid...  
  
"OH, I WILL! YOU WAIT AND SEE, MUDBLOOD!" He bellowed. Draco glared at her. Why he  
  
had ever done anything to get her attention, he had no idea. He glared at the on looking crowd,  
  
than turned and marched his way through the crowds. Hermione's face went white.  
  
"Bastard!" She whispered, "HOW DARE YOU! I HATE YOU DRACO MALFOY!" She  
  
screeched, her face now screwed up in anger as she spun around and raced back to the Gryffindor  
  
tower. All the Slytherins who had been watching were now applauding. Fred and George were  
  
holding bets with the Gryffindors to see who would get the best part in the play, Lee Jordan had  
  
bet twenty galleons on Hermione already. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were just interested to  
  
see a fight between the famous couple. Harry Potter seemed to be the only person who wasn't  
  
joining in on the fun, as he raced off to find Hermione.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"'Face it Mr. Malfoy, I am smarter than you!' Like hell she is!" Draco Malfoy thought angrily,  
  
once back in the Slytherin common room. He had stolen some first year's script, and was  
  
practicing the lines needed to try out for 'The Beast'. But he couldn't concentrate. That damned  
  
Hermione kept appearing in front of his face whenever he tried to do anything. After about half  
  
an hour of trying to memorize, he threw down the script and kicked it. Some first year came and  
  
picked it up. He brought it up the stairs, obviously heading to Malfoy's room.  
  
Draco had to admit, all the Slytherins had been a lot more respectful to him now that he and  
  
Hermione had a fight. No more glares as he walked past, no more whispering he had to ignore. Of  
  
course, no one actually spoke to his face about it though, or made fun of him, because he was a  
  
Malfoy. Everyone had learned, one way or another, that you did not mess with the Malfoy family.  
  
If you did, you would usually end up in big trouble, or dead.  
  
Draco looked furiously around the room.  
  
"What!?!" He snapped at a group of second years who had been watching him. They all went  
  
white, shook their heads and ran away. Draco glared after them. He sneered at some first year girl  
  
for no apparent reason. She snapped her head forward and walked back to her friends. Draco  
  
watched her, and saw a tear fall down her cheek. His heart fell a moment, and his face went soft.  
  
But as fast as the look had come, it left.  
  
As he picked up his things, he saw a group of kids laughing about something.  
  
"What's so bloody funny?!?" He snapped at them, thinking that if he couldn't be happy, neither  
  
could they. The boys put the pad of paper away very quickly. Draco glared at one of them, and  
  
held out his hand.  
  
"Give it to me."   
  
No one moved.  
  
"GIVE IT TO ME, GOD DAMMIT!" he screamed, his face not showing the slightest change.  
  
  
  
One of the boys slowly reached into his pocket and handed Draco a pad of paper. Looking it over,  
  
he could tell that they had also been placing bets on who would get the better part. Draco nearly  
  
exploded, but instead, calmly took the pad of paper, and put it on the table. He took his wand, and  
  
muttered something under his breath. The pad of paper turned into a snake. It looked up at Draco.  
  
Draco sneered, as the snake slithered to the group of boys. They all jumped up and ran as the  
  
snake chased them. Malfoy sneered and turned to walk to his bedroom.  
  
Draco got onto his bed, closed the curtains, and pulled out his earphones from under his pillow. It  
  
was a muggle radio with headphones in it, he had placed a spell on it so that it could play in  
  
Hogwarts. He wasn't as stupid as Hermione seemed to think, he thought as he lied down. It was  
  
in the middle of a song that he didn't recognize. Muggle music wasn't all that bad, not that he  
  
would every tell that to anyone else. He listened to the new song. It was a woman's voice, and she  
  
was singing to a sad-yet-rock background. Draco sat up as the words filled his head.  
  
"Wake me up inside  
  
Wake me up inside  
  
call my name and save me from the dark  
  
bid my blood to run  
  
before I come undone  
  
save me from the nothing I've become!"  
  
(As the lines were sung)He thought of the girl he had just made cry, and his heart fell. This time it  
  
didn't go back to normal.  
  
"Now that I know what I'm without  
  
You can't just leave me!  
  
Breathe into me and make me real   
  
Bring me to life!"  
  
(as the line was sung) He took the radio to the bathroom next to his room, and stopped before the  
  
mirror, his eyes closed.  
  
"Wake me up inside  
  
Wake me up inside  
  
call my name and save me from the dark  
  
bid my blood to run  
  
before I come undone  
  
save me from the nothing I've become!!"  
  
(as the lines were sung) He opened his eyes, and looked into a face he didn't recognize. The eyes  
  
were a hollow gray, and for some reason, he was scared. The eyes held anger and hate and-and  
  
power. Draco looked down at himself, and than back at the mirror. "What have I become?" he  
  
asked himself.  
  
"Frozen inside without your touch   
  
Without your love, darling   
  
Only you are the life among the dead!"  
  
(as the lines were sung) He thought of Hermione. It was true. She was everything to him. He  
  
started to realize how horrible his life was before he met her. His family was horrible. Where love  
  
should have been was filled with abuse, and neglect. He looked around his bathroom, and it all  
  
started to sink in. This, this was his life. To grow up, become a death eater, inherit the Malfoy  
  
fortune, marry a pureblood, have another little Malfoy, and die. Than that little Malfoy would  
  
grow up, become a Slytherin, become a death eater, inherit the Malfoy fortune, marry a  
  
pureblood, have another little Malfoy, and die. And the cycle would go on, and on and on. His  
  
future child and grandchildren would have to go through the same thing as him. Draco looked up  
  
at the mirror, and declared to the bathroom, the music still playing in the background: "I AM  
  
NOT A MALFOY!"  
  
"Wake me up inside!  
  
Wake me up inside!  
  
Call my name and save me from the dark!  
  
Bid my blood to run,  
  
before I come undone  
  
save me from the nothing I've become!"  
  
As the music was ending, he saw his eyes change. The gray was replaced by a fiery silver, and  
  
seemed to hold not anger and hate, but defiance and power. He grabbed his things, and tore down  
  
the steps to the common room. Ignoring everyone, he dashed out into the cold hallway, and raced  
  
up the stairs, taking two at a time. He didn't stop for a breath, but ran as fast as he could go. His  
  
heart beat fast and furious, his eyes were filled with a lust for freedom. His head was pounding  
  
with the idea that he could change the future of all his kin. Finally, he got to where he wanted, the  
  
portrait of the Fat Lady. He remembered one morning when Hermione had told him that she was  
  
late because that damned fat lady wouldn't let her leave the common room. He had figured out  
  
that it must have been the painting of a Fat Lady, and he had walked along the corridors for the  
  
past few days, determined to figure out the whereabouts of the Gryffindor Tower. As he looked at  
  
it, the portrait blinked.  
  
"Well, password?" She asked. Draco glared at her.  
  
"Let me IN!" He screamed, pounding on her.  
  
"Oh my goodness!!! SOMEONE! HELP! STOP THAT, YOUNG MAN!" She bellowed at Draco.  
  
He, instead, pounded harder than ever, screaming.  
  
"HERMIONE!" He yelled, "HERMIONE!!! HERMIONE!! HERMIONE LET ME IN!!"  
  
The portrait swung open, and there was none other than Harry Potter.  
  
"POTTER! Where is Hermione?" He asked, going through the portrait hole, and coming out on  
  
the other side.  
  
He didn't get an answer. From right beside him, there came a loud swoosh, and he was on the  
  
ground, holding his jaw, which seemed to have been broken.  
  
He heard Potter's voice above him. "RON! YOU KNOCKED HIM OUT!"  
  
"He deserves it! The bloody bastard! Did you see what he did to Hermione?!? WEREN'T YOU THERE?!"  
  
"YES I WAS THERE, BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL HIM!!! You could have saved me a  
  
punch!"   
  
Ron laughed sourly.  
  
Draco stood up slowly, and noticed that the room had gotten quiet. He held his jaw, blood seeping  
  
down his chin and onto his robes. He didn't wince, or cry. No amount of physical pain could make  
  
him cry. His god-damned father had made sure of that when he was eight.  
  
He looked at Harry, who's mouth was open. Draco wanted to ask where Hermione was, but found  
  
it terribly hard to speak. So instead, he just looked at Harry pleadingly.  
  
"Y-your really determined to talk to her, aren't you?" He asked, looking at where Draco was  
  
holding his jaw. His hand was red with blood. He tried to nod as best he could. He only managed  
  
a small twitch.  
  
"F-fine." Harry jogged over to one of the girls sitting on the side. Draco recognized her as Parvati.  
  
He whispered something to her. She nodded and ran up the stairs. Harry followed, but waited at  
  
the bottom of the stairs.  
  
Ron stayed in one place. His eyes were wide. No one in the room (which Draco had guessed to be  
  
the common room) spoke, or even tried to help him. No matter, he didn't want them to. He would  
  
go to Madam Pomfrey as soon as talked to Hermione. If he could talk.... Harry nodded and moved  
  
up the stairs, motioning for Draco to follow.  
  
Harry waited outside a door, and motioned for Draco to go in. His eyes were fierce as Draco  
  
walked by, and they clearly stated that if he hurt Hermione in anyway, Harry would hurt him worse.  
  
Draco, still clutching his jaw (which was now so overwhelmingly painful he couldn't see), walked  
  
into the room. He stopped when he herd Hermione's voice.  
  
"Malfoy! What happened to you?" She asked. He just looked at her, trying to tell her that it didn't  
  
matter. "Wait. Here, let me." She muttered something under her breath and pointed her wand at  
  
Draco's jaw. For a split second, he thought she was going to hurt him for what he had done, but in  
  
an instant, he felt a nice cooling sensation run up his jaw, and everything swam back into view.  
  
"Fhank *cough* I mean, Thank you, H-Hermione." He said, feeling his new jaw. Hermione only  
  
smiled a bit, than sat down.  
  
"What did you want?" She asked, her voice much colder than before.  
  
"T-to ask you if you would come with me."  
  
"What?" Hermione said, turning around to look him in the face. Brown eyes met Gray, and it  
  
seemed that Hermione was staring deep into his soul.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked cautiously, getting up from her seat and backing away from Draco.  
  
"I'm Draco Ma- Draco." He said, trying not to give away what he was going to do.  
  
"No you're not. He- his eyes-well, your just different."  
  
"Yes, I am. I am different. But I am still Draco. Please, Hermione, come with me! I swear to you,  
  
nothing bad will happen."  
  
She stood there, frozen to her spot for a moment. She blinked, and suddenly the color returned to  
  
her cheeks. "Wait! If you ARE Draco, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET  
  
OUT! OUT!" She screamed, pushing him a bit. Draco grabbed her hands, and held her still, as  
  
best as he could.  
  
"No! NO! Hermione! Hermione, listen to me! Listen! STOP!" He screamed. She stopped  
  
struggling, but snatched her hands away from him all the same.  
  
"WHY SHOULD I? AFTER ALL, I AM JUST A STUPID MUDBLOOD, AREN'T I?" She  
  
bellowed. Draco looked at her, and whispered.  
  
"No. No, no your not." He said. Hermione raised her eyebrows.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your not a mudblood. Your not. Your Hermione Granger, the most perfect girl in the world." He  
  
whispered so quietly that Hermione needed to lean in to hear him.  
  
She stood there a few moments, not completely letting it sink in. Than it did.  
  
"I-I'm what? What did you just say?" She asked, now whispering too.  
  
"Your perfect. I- I- " He looked Hermione in the eyes."H-Hermione, listen to me. I have never  
  
said this to anyone before, well, never said it and actually meant it, that is. Hermione, I-I'm sorry.  
  
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I-I was angry. Please, forgive me." He looked at the ground, and waited.  
  
He thought, for a moment, that Hermione had left the room, because there was no sound  
  
whatsoever. When he looked up, Hermione was staring at him, and didn't look happy, angry, sad  
  
or calm. She looked confused. And it didn't suit her, because Hermione was never confused.  
  
Draco looked at the clock, and saw that it was almost midnight.  
  
"Hermione, I don't care whiter or not you forgive me, well, I do care, but I mean, I- well, you  
  
know! But come with me! Now!" He grabbed her arm, and turned around. He pushed open the  
  
door, and saw that three people were now lying on the ground. Harry, Ron and Ron's sister.  
  
"Sorry!" He said hurriedly, before continuing on, Hermione now running to keep up with him.  
  
"Where are we going?" She panted, now running past the Owlry.  
  
"You'll see!" He called, running faster. He ran now, his heart beating harder and harder. His  
  
breath became ragged as he climbed a ladder up a tower he had never been in. It didn't matter to  
  
him. The ladder ended in some sort of storage area. Draco didn't even look at anything. Instead,  
  
he turned around to see a staggering Hermione climb up the stairs. She stopped to catch her  
  
breath, while Draco checked his watch. He had 5 minutes left.  
  
"Y-you *gasp* made m-me r-run fi-five m-miles for a-a S-STORAGE C-CLOSET?" She yelled.  
  
"You know, it's a-amazing how even when you h-have no b-breath left, you s- still manage to be  
  
able to s-scream!" he panted. Hermione scowled. "Oh, and no. I didn't w-want to go to a storage  
  
closet. Let me catch my breath." He said. Hermione and he sat down on the dusty floor, and took  
  
staggering breath.  
  
"Okay," Draco said, looking at his watch. He had one and a half minutes. "Well, lets go."  
  
"What?" Hermione said, getting up. "What? I thought you said that you didn't come to a storage  
  
closet!"  
  
"I didn't! Its what\'s above the storage closet!"  
  
Hermione looked out the window. "But there isn't anything above the closet!"  
  
"Excatly!"  
  
Hermione just shook her head in exasperation. Draco kissed her hand, before taking an old chair,  
  
and walking over to the window. He told Hermione to move back, and lifted up the chair.  
  
"Wait, what are you doing? NO, DRA-" Hermione cut herself off as Draco smashed the chair  
  
through the window. The glass shattered.  
  
"Are you crazy?! What did you do that for? Why didn't you just open the damn window?!" She  
  
yelled, walking over and pushing the empty window frame out. It squeaked as it slowly drifted  
  
across air.  
  
"Whoops... sorry, just felt like smashing something. Anyway, come with me!"  
  
Draco put one leg out the window, and climbed up onto the roof. Hermione stuck her head out,  
  
looked around unsurely, but finally climbed up, with Draco's help.  
  
The two stood there for a moment, when Hermione spoke.  
  
"Well, this is er... nice. Is this what you wanted to show me?"  
  
"No." Draco said, and glanced at his watch. He had thirty seconds.  
  
"Okay, Hermione, listen to me. I am going to tell the entire world the two things I have wanted to  
  
say since I was 13, and I will do it today."  
  
Hermione was about to say something back, when Draco screamed:  
  
"I LOVE HERMIONE GRANGER!!!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs. Hermione nearly fell  
  
backwards, he was so loud. "AND I AM NOT A MALFOY!!! I AM NOT A MALFOOOOY!!!"  
  
The moment he stopped, his watch went off.  
  
"Midnight..." he muttered under his breath. "Now I can have a full day where I am not a Malfoy,  
  
and where everyone knows it." He looked at Hermione, a smile playing at his lips. "And they all  
  
know I love you too, by the way."  
  
Hermione smiled, and pulled him in for a kiss.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next day, Draco and Hermione woke up on the roof of the 'storage closet'. Hurrying to get  
  
back to their common rooms, the two kissed briefly, than fled down the stairs. Draco glanced at  
  
his watch.  
  
"6:30... damn. The common rooms will be full!" He panted over his shoulder to Hermione.  
  
"I know! What will we tell our friends?" She laughed back to Draco.  
  
"Hmmm..." came a cold voice from behind them. Both kids spun around to see Professor Snape  
  
sneering. "I think it would be more appropriate to explain to your Potions teacher as to why you  
  
are running down the hallway at 6:30 in the morning, still in your night things." He said, glancing  
  
at Hermione, who was still in her nightgown. Both kids just stared.  
  
"Where were you two?" Snapped Snape. ("Snapped Snape"... hahahaha.. That just sounds cool!)  
  
Hermione looked at Draco, who looked back, bewildered.  
  
"Having a night time stroll? Hmm? Spending some quality time together? Maybe even trying to  
  
plan another fight?"  
  
Draco didn't understand. What was he talking about?  
  
"N-no sir! That was not planned!" Hermione spoke up, and when Draco glanced back, she seemed  
  
to be embarrassed that she was only wearing a nightgown. She was covering herself up as best  
  
she could. Draco stepped in front of her, blocking her from Snape's view. He felt her muscles  
  
relax behind him.  
  
"Be quiet, Miss. Granger! You are already in such-" he was cut off by a loud banging noise.  
  
Peeves came floating out of a classroom door. He stopped when he saw Snape, and suddenly  
  
floated away, very fast. Snape ran to inspect what Peeves had done, calling back:  
  
"DON\'T MOVE! STAY THERE! PEEVES! PEEVES! GET BACK HERE!!!" He yelled. Draco  
  
took his chances, and pushed Hermione back a bit, urging her to run.  
  
"Go. Now!" He whispered, and Hermione ran. Draco spun around and began to sprint as fast as he  
  
could, following Hermione. She ran in front of him, her nightgown trailing out behind her.  
  
For some reason, Draco saw all this in slow motion. He saw Hermione look back, her hair  
  
spinning around her face, which now had a smile playing at its lips. In a flash, her eyes told how  
  
she had never done anything so daring in her life as run from a teacher. Draco looked back, still  
  
in slow motion, and saw Snape now sprinting towards them, his face white with anger. He was  
  
yelling something, but Draco couldn't hear it. He turned back to Hermione, and laughed.  
  
Suddenly, everything zoomed back to normal motion. He sprinted as fast as he could. He grabbed  
  
Hermione, turned a corner, and dived behind a tapestry hanging on the wall. He put his hand over  
  
her mouth, to keep her quiet, and they both waited until they herd footsteps run past them.  
  
They waited a few more minutes, to be sure that Snape had left, than burst out into laughter.  
  
"D-did you s-see his f-face?" Hermione laughed.  
  
"Yeah! It was p-priceless!" This comment gave the two a fresh wave of hysterics.  
  
Ten minutes of laughter later, Draco and Hermione kissed goodbye, and went back to their dormitories.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That night, Draco and Hermione met in the Great Hall at seven o'clock. For some reason, Draco  
  
had not heard from Snape that entire day. Luckily enough, he had gotten back to his dormitory on  
  
time that morning. Only a few first years were up, and he told them he had wanted to take an  
  
early shower.  
  
"The little buggers believed me!" He had thought happily as he ran back to his room to get ready  
  
for his classes. Amazingly enough, Professor Snape hadn't even looked at him as the day went on.  
  
Well, Potions class wasn't until Thursday anyway, and it was Wednessday, so the pair had some luck.  
  
But that night was the try-outs for 'Beauty and The Beast', and even though Draco and Hermione  
  
had made up, they still were determined to beat each other.  
  
"You are so going down, Malfoy." Hermione grinned, stopping in front of the door, and coughing.  
  
Malfoy opened it for her, with a fake look of respect. "Ah, well, we'll see about that, won't we  
  
Granger?" He asked, walking in after her.  
  
A loud, female voice boomed above the giant crowd of two-hundred people.  
  
"BOYS TO THE RIGHT! GIRLS TO THE LEFT! C\'MON NOW, HOW HARD CAN THAT BE?  
  
MOVE TO THE RIGHT, PLEASE, SIR! BOYS TO THE RIGHT, GIRLS TO THE LEFT!  
  
LEBISNKI, STOP KISSING YOUR BOYFRIEND AND MOVE TO THE LEFT!"  
  
Hermione and Draco laughed as Parvati broke apart two third years, who were kissing, and threw  
  
the girl to the long line of other females. She must have placed a spell to make her voice louder,  
  
because everyone could hear her.  
  
"TO THE RIGHT, MORGAN, TO THE RIGHT! NO, THAT'S YOUR LEFT! RIIIIIIGHT! GOOD  
  
BOY! BOYS TO THE RIGHT, GIRLS TO THE LEFT! C'MON PEOPLE, BOYS TO THE  
  
RIGHT, GIRLS TO THE LEFT! GET YOUR SCRIPT READY, AND YOUR VOICES READY!  
  
BOYS TO THE RIGHT, GIRLS TO LEFT! DAMMIT LEBISNKI! GET THE HELL AWAY  
  
FROM YOUR DAMNED BOYFRIEND!"  
  
The third year had gone back to kissing her boyfriend behind Parvati's back, and was now thrown  
  
back to the line of girls, harshly.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you, then!" Draco smiled, kissing Hermione on the cheek. "I'll wave  
  
when I reach the top, Granger."  
  
"Hmm, yes, it's not the TOP when you're BELOW me." Hermione smiled.  
  
"I would like to get below you, as a matter of fact..." Draco whispered into her ear, before running  
  
off to the right. It took Hermione a few moments to understand what he meant, but when she did,  
  
her face turned bright red.  
  
"NOT LIKE THAT!" She yelled back to Draco, who just winked. "Pervert..." she muttered to  
  
herself as she got into the line of girls.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After what seemed like ages, Parvati walked to the front of the lines, (which were now neat,  
  
because she had threatened to curse anyone who wasn't in the correct line.)and told everyone to  
  
quiet down. All the kids looked up at her.  
  
"Okay!" She said, her voice as loud as before, but she seemed to not be yelling, but talking.  
  
"Now! Everyone, I am the Director of this play! So, I have decided that the try-outs will take  
  
place in front of everyone here, so that we can see how you act in front of an audience."  
  
There was a murmur throughout the crowd; it was obvious that no one wanted to have to audition  
  
in front of everyone else. Hermione silently agreed, but said nothing. Parvati continued.  
  
"Also! Because I am the director, I would like to hear your voices, so, you will each have to sing a  
  
random song of my choice!"  
  
At these words, there was an uproar. Now it was even more obvious that absolutely NO ONE  
  
wanted to have to SING in front of everyone else.  
  
"I KNOW! I KNOW!" Parvatie yelled, trying to get everyone to shut up, "But listen to me! This is  
  
a very good idea, I think! You see, if something happened on stage, the actors would have to go  
  
along with it! You can't stop and start over! So, if we give you this song, you will have acted as  
  
you would on stage! First you will sing a song from the play, than we will pick a song for you, so  
  
that we know your REAL voice, and not what you practiced for three days. SO! First off, we have  
  
Erica Q. and Dan F. Both of you will try out together, Erica as 'Bell' and Dan as 'The Beast'. Come  
  
on up!"  
  
The first two kids in line walked up to the stage, very nervously. The girl had long blond hair, and  
  
the boy had short brown hair, and both looked exceptionally nervous. Hermione was very glad  
  
she didn't have to go first...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
All the kids in line had sat down on the ground, and we're now reading over their lines, while  
  
some others had fallen asleep. It was at least an hour and a half later, and only half of the kids  
  
were done. The only people not asleep were the next four kids ready to go up. Hermione was next  
  
for the girls, and Ernie McMillan was next for the boys. Draco was lined up with Ginny for the  
  
pair to go up after. Hermione was extremely pissed the Draco got to watch her, because she  
  
would have to leave after this, and wouldn't be able to distract Draco, as she KNEW he was going  
  
to do to her.  
  
"Hermione G. and Ernie M.! You're next!" Parvati called, her voice was a lot less enthusiastic as  
  
she called out their names. Hermione picked up her script, got to her feet, and walked with Ernie  
  
up to the stage.  
  
"Okay, start at the top of page 25, please."  
  
"Er, Parvati?" Ernie asked, "who do I play?"  
  
Parvati stared at him a moment, than stuttered "T-the beast, Ernie, the beast."  
  
"Right!" He said, opening his script. Hermione tried to stay calm as she opened to page 25.  
  
"I will play Bell's father. Go." Parvati said, leaning back in her chair. Hermione spoke first, her  
  
voice pleading.  
  
"Please, please! Let him go!" She said, bending down a bit, "Please! He didn't do anything wrong!  
  
Let him go!"  
  
"Er... no." Ernie said, forgetting his line. Parvati motioned for Hermione to go on.  
  
"Please! He has a cold! He'll die up here! Please!" Hermione begged. Some of the kids started to  
  
wake up now, because Hermione was almost yelling. She had watched all the other people trying  
  
out, and noticed that they were very quiet, and Parvati kept telling them to speak up. So she  
  
decided that if she wanted to beat Draco, than she would have to do the best she possibly could.  
  
"He wandered into my castle, he is my prisoner\" Ernie said, finding his voice.  
  
"No! No, please, let him go!" Hermione begged, "Let him go, and-and I will stay here...with you."  
  
She looked down at her feet.  
  
"No, Bell, no. Don't! Bell, you can't!" Parvati said, her eyes on Hermione. Hermione hoped it was  
  
because she had been good.  
  
"Y-you'll stay here with me?" Ernie said, sounding more like the beast.  
  
"Y-y-yes. I- yes. I will, Just please, please let him go!"  
  
"No! Bell! Don't! NO!" Parvati cried, getting more and more interested.  
  
"Deal." Ernie said. Parvati read how the beast took Bell's father and threw him off the stage. "He  
  
will be taken back to your home." Ernie said, much better than before. Hermione fell to the  
  
ground, pretending to cry softly into her hands.  
  
As she got up, so did Parvati.  
  
"Wonderful job, Hermione! Excellent! And Ernie, you did good too." She said, shaking  
  
Hermione's hand. Hermione blushed.  
  
"T-thank you!"  
  
"Okay, now onto the song. Ernie, you are the beast, Hermione, you're bell, I will be everyone else.  
  
Open to the back, where 'Something There' is. Okay, when the music starts."  
  
She turned on the music, and Hermione began to sing.  
  
*'Something There'*  
  
(Hermione sang) There's something sweet, and almost kind.  
  
But he was mean and he was course and unrefined.  
  
But now he's dear, I'm so unsure.   
  
I wonder why I didn't see it there, before?  
  
{Hermione had looked at Draco the entire time she sang, winking at the end of the third line. He  
  
smiled back.}  
  
(Ernie began to sing) She glanced this way, I thought I saw.   
  
And when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw.  
  
No, it can't be, I'll just ignore.  
  
But then she's never looked at me that way before.  
  
{From in the crowd, Draco mouthed this to Hermione. She smiled sweetly as she began her next  
  
verse, glancing at Draco when she said "True, that he's no Prince Charming!" ----He fake glared.}  
  
(Hermione sang) New and a bit, alarming.   
  
Who'd have thought that this could be?   
  
True, that he's no, Prince Charming,   
  
But there's something in him that I simply didn't see!  
  
(Parvati sang) Well who'd have thought?   
  
Well bless my soul!   
  
Well who'd have known?   
  
Well who indeed?   
  
And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own? It's so peculiar!  
  
We'll wait and see, a few days more, there may be something there that wasn't there before!  
  
Ya know, perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before.  
  
There may be something there that wasn't there before."  
  
As they ended, the Great Hall erupted into applause. Hermione bowed, and Ernie waved. Draco  
  
was clapping lightly, not wanting to let Hermione win. He had to admit, though. Her voice was  
  
angelic. Sweet, and soft, yet loud enough to be herd. It was entrancing.   
  
"VERY GOOD, HERMIONE!" Parvati exclaimed, practically bursting with excitement. "Oh, and  
  
good job, Ernie! Got off to a bad start, but you got through it in the end!"  
  
Ernie nodded, apparently displeased with his performance.  
  
"Well, now, Hermione. You have to sing a song by yourself now, okay?"  
  
Hermione nodded. She felt like she could tackle the world, and sing any song that Parvati gave  
  
her. Anything at all! 'Bring it on, Parvati!' She thought to herself.  
  
"Okay, Hermione, you have to sing...(she searched through some old records.) Ah! Perrrfect! (she  
  
rolled her 'r' ,and grinned evilly) Lets see what you make of this. Hermione, your song is 'Don't  
  
give a Damn about my Bad Reputation'!!"  
  
Hermione stood there a moment, not sure of what she was talking about. Than she remembered  
  
the song. And the lines. This was one of the songs that Lavender had dared her to sing one night  
  
after a Quidditch match against Slytherin. She turned white.  
  
"W-what? N-no! No! Parvati, NO!" She said, the color completely drained form her face. Just the  
  
thought of having to sing that in front of more than her close friends was unbearable.  
  
"What? You want the part, don't you?" Parvati answered, putting the record in the player. (a/n:  
  
magic thing, don't ask)  
  
Hermione looked out at the crows, and than to Draco. Her heart filled with courage. She had to  
  
win this. She had to get the part- just to spite Draco.  
  
"F-fine. Put it on." Hermione said, gaining back her color. Parvati squealed with delight.  
  
"Okay, go." She whispered, once the music began. Hermione took a deep breath, and began to  
  
sing, quietly.  
  
*Don't Give A Damn About My Bad Reputation*  
  
I don't give a damn about my reputation!   
  
Your livin in the past, it's a new generation!  
  
I'm gonna do what I want to do, and that's what I'm gonna do!   
  
And I don't' give a damn about my bad reputation!  
  
{Here, Hermione started to get into it, singing louder and winking at some of her friends.  
  
Everyone in the audience was completely surprised when she started to dance, shaking her hips,  
  
and then stopping to sing again.)  
  
Oh no! (no no no no no no) Not me! (me me me me me me)  
  
And I don't give a damn about my reputation!   
  
Never said I wanted to improve my station!   
  
And I'm only doin good when I'm having fun!  
  
And I don't hafta please no one!   
  
And I don't give a damn about my bad reputation!  
  
{Hermione walked to the edge of the stage, and screamed the last line into the mike. Everyone  
  
started to clap. Draco stared open mouthed.)  
  
Oh no! (no no no no no no) Not me! (me me me me me me) WO no! (no no no no no no) Not me!  
  
(me me me me me me)  
  
I don't give a damn about my reputation!   
  
Never been afraid of any deviation!  
  
And I don't really care if you think I'm strange I ain't gonna change!   
  
And I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation!  
  
{Hermione threw her head forward, and all her hair swung out in front of her face as she started  
  
to play her 'air guitar'. She threw her hair back ward and forward, looking like some kind of rockstar.}  
  
Oh no! (no no no no no no) Not me! (me me me me me me) WO no! (no no no no no no) Not me!  
  
(me me me me me me)  
  
Hello Boys... {Parvati came up, whispered something into Hermione's ear, and the two started to  
  
dance in VERY un-Hermione like way. They shook their shoulders and leaned back and forth,  
  
laughing hysterically. Parvati went and sat back down to watch as Hermione continued, now  
  
screaming-yet-singing into the mike.}  
  
And I don't give a damn about my reputation!   
  
The worlds in trouble!   
  
There's no communication!   
  
And everyone can say what they wanna say, It never gets better anyway!  
  
So why should I care about a bad reputation?  
  
{She did a few more hair-flips, and pretended to play her 'guitar' again.}  
  
Anyway, Oh no! (no no no no no no) Not me! (me me me me me me) WO no! (no no no no no  
  
no) Not me! (me me me me me me)  
  
I don't give a damn about no bad reputation!   
  
Your livin in the past, it's a new generation!  
  
And I only feel good when I got no pain, and that's how I\'m gonna stay!   
  
And I dont' give a damn about my bad reputation,  
  
Oh no! (no no no no no no) Not me! (me me me me me me) WO no! (no no no no no no) Not me!  
  
(me me me me me me) (no no no no no no) NOT ME!!! (me me me me me me)  
  
NOT ME! {She screamed the last part into the mike. That second, the song ended. Hermione  
  
brought her head up to look around the room.}  
  
~*~*~*~*~   
  
Draco was now positively white. He had NEVER in his entire LIFE seen Hermione so out of  
  
control! She was going crazy on the stage. He hoped that this was what she was like in bed...(a/n:  
  
sorry, I had to say it)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione stared at the audience, her smile fading as no one moved. Parvati was the first to start  
  
clapping, and pretty soon, the entire hall was on their feet, positively screaming. Hermione  
  
bowed, and left the stage. She had never felt so alive in her entire life. It was as if she had let out  
  
all of the 'bad' in her. Screaming into the mike, she had felt like all the weight had been lifted  
  
from her shoulders. She had just unleashed something in her that had been begging to get out for  
  
years now. Her bad side.  
  
"Hmmm... I might take up the career as a rock star for a job..." she thought to herself, as she  
  
walked back to the common room, beaming.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Dude, that chapter was like 20 pages in Word Perfect!!! CRAZY! I am sorry it is so long, but I  
  
really wanted to get to this part that is going to come up next chapter. I wanted to do it THIS  
  
chapter, but I couldn't, on account of it would take at LEAST five more pages. Anyway,  
  
I am TERRIBLY sorry everyone is so OOC, but they HAVE to be, you see. Because everything  
  
that has happened in this chapter is REALLY important in future chapters.   
  
And sorry about all the little Author's Notes in the middle of the story... but sometimes i just like  
  
to point out little things. That I find entertaining... because I am like that... its hard to write and be  
  
serious! I mean, c'mon, "Snapped Snape"! Thats hilarious!! Its like a little kids book!! Anyway,  
  
MORE TO COME! SO:  
  
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEEE  
  
REVIEW!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE REVIEW!!!!  
  
-SBR ^_^ 


	3. The Practice and the Letter

Hello all- I am sorry this is taking so long to update, but serious writers block long chappies long long time to get out.

Anyway- I was trying to decide if I should use Draco's try-out, and decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. Too long, and its pretty much the same thing as Hermione's. So here we go!

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, would I be writing a chapter here on ? NOOOOO. I didn't think so. And the whole "Beauty and Beast" movie and all of its songs and related stuff are owned by Disney. And the song "Heaven's Light"(which I altered a bit) is from "the Hunchback of Notre Dame" which is also owned by Disney. Great company!

(WARNING: This is going to be a very long chapter, as I decided to put the practices, AND the performance or at least the main parts of it here in this chapter)

* * *

**The Play**

Draco couldn't believe what he had just seen. Hermione had- well, had acted... not like Hermione!

"Next!" Parvati yelled from on the stage. She was smiling profusely, as if she had just gotten the best present in the world. Draco and a young blond from Hufflepuff walked onto the stage. "Well, you know the deal. Lets go!"

"Yes, alright, alright. You were pretty good. I'll give you that."

Draco and Hermione were walking down the main hallway to breakfast the next day. The try-out results were supposed to be hanging right outside of the Great Hall that morning.

"Pretty good? Is that all? Hmmm. I think someone is jealous of my talent!" Hermione joked.

"Jealous? Me? Well, I never..." Draco grinned.

"Wait- that's it, isn't it? The list!"Hermione pointed to a wall where a bunch of students were pushing each other, apparently thrilled to see something. Without even waiting for an answer, she rushed forward. Draco followed.

"Congratulations, Hermione!" Shouted someone. Hermione turned to look, and saw several people giving her a thumbs-up. "You're going to be awesome!"

"Well, that kind of ruins the surprise, doesn't it?" Draco whispered into her ear. But Hermione wasn't paying attention. She had pushed her way to the front, and was now reading the paper on the wall.

"Draco! Draco! Come quick! Draco! I'm Belle! I made it! I got the part of Belle!"

She ran back and practically tackled her boyfriend. He steadied himself on a group of first year boys passing by, who mumbled angrily and glared.

"Woo! Hold on, breathe! Calm down!"

"I made it! I made it! I made it! Beat that!" She sang, dancing in a circle. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Might as well..." He walked up to the sign and searched for his name. "Draco...Draco... hmm... ah, here we go..." He paused and stared at the paper. This must be a type-o. He couldn't have gotten that part. He wasn't that good... he didn't even really WANT to be in the play.

"What did you get?" Hermione appeared beside him. He pointed to his name. There was a pause, and Hermione gave him a huge hug. "Congratulations! Wow, the Beast! How good were you?"

Draco shook his head absentmindedly. "How did that happen? I don't think I was too great."

Hermione looked at him for a moment. "Maybe Parvati just thought you were right for the part." She looked back at the sign, "It says the first practice is tonight, in the Great Hall. We'll get our scripts! This is going to be awesome!"

Later on that night, Hermione showed up to practice, beaming. Looking around, Hermione saw that there were about 60 people sitting in chairs that formed a giant circle, Draco being one of them. She walked up the Parvati.

"Hello, Hermione! Here's your script. Take a look at it; we're going to run through it tonight once everyone is here.""

Hermione nodded and walked over to sit next to Draco. He was so into his script, he didn't notice her until she coughed. He looked up.  
  
"Did you know that I turn into a monster?"

"What, I don't even get a hello?"

"Yeah, hi. But I turn into a monster!"

"Well, I would call it a Beast. Not a monster. There is a difference."

"That's great. But I TURN INTO A MONSTER."

"Yes! You do! That's the part!"

"No, you don't understand me." He paused to search for the correct words. "I- I do not have a costume. My costume is myself for the first and last part, and I actually am TURNED into a monster for the play! With a spell."

"What? No, that's- that's not safe. Parvati wouldn't do that. So many things could go wrong!"

"Yeah, if she was doing the spell. But she's not. She got Dumbledore to help out with the play- he is going to be the voice we here at the very beginning, telling how I got turned into a monster. And he is turning me into it. And everyone who has to be turned into something- Dumbledore is going to handle it."

Hermione looked at him for a moment.

"You-you giggle have to turn into a beast! giggle" She burst into laughter.

"Shut up! Do you have any idea how hard that is going to be?"

But whether or not Hermione had any idea how hard it was going to be, we will never know. For at that moment, Parvati spoke.

"Well, welcome to the first practice of Hogwarts performance of 'Beauty and the Beast'!"

There was a slight cheer from the 60 kids sitting in the circle.

"Now that we are all here, I would like to quickly introduce the main characters. When I call out your character, stand up. Belle."

Hermione stood up to applause.

"The Beast."

Draco stood up to almost utter silence. Someone coughed slightly. No one was really sure if he could do it. Parvati cleared her throat, and a few kids clapped.

"Gaston."

Ernie McMillan stood up, to everyone's applause.

"Lumiere."

No one stood up.

"Lumiere?"

No one.

"Well, er..."

At that moment, a young boy came running into the room.

"Ah, Ron, I see you decided to join us."

"Sorry, Parvati, forgot about the time. Quidditch practice and all..."

"Right. Well, (she turned to everyone sitting) this is Lumiere."

People seemed a bit confused, but clapped anyway. Ron smiled a bit, and then sat down next to Hermione, who gave him a confused look. He mouthed "I'll explain later"" as Parvati announced the next character.

"Codsworth?"

A boy from Ravenclaw stood up. Everyone clapped.

"Mrs. Pots?"

A young girl from Gryffindor, one Hermione had never talked too, had stood up. She had a very motherly look to her, as she was naturally plump with blue, kind eyes. Everyone clapped; it was obvious that she was perfect for the part.

"Chip."

A young boy, obviously a first year(but he looked even younger than that), from Ravenclaw stood up.

"Finally, Lafou."

Neville stood up. Hermione was surprised she hadn't seen him there. He definitely didn't seem the acting type. But she clapped loudly all the same. Neville gave her a bashful smile and sat down.

"Very well. Now that everyone has seen who will be playing who, lets have a run through, shall we? For everyone who didn't know, our own Headmaster Dumbledore will be supplying the voice of the Narrator. I will do his part for now, since he has many more important things to be doing than this! Now--"

She was cut off as the doors to the Great Hall opened. There was Dumbledore, in all his glory, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes twinkling as always.

"I am terribly sorry for interrupting, Miss. Patil. I was just given the notice that the first practice was today, and decided not to miss it. Is there anything I can do?"

Parvati almost fell over. She had NOT been planning on the Headmaster being here for the first practice, and as she was not use to him addressing her, it was a bit of a shock. After regaining her composure, though, she invited him to sit.

"I am sorry our chairs are so hard, Professor. Well, we are-er- having a run through of our play. We were just beginning- would you like to start?"

He smiled pleasantly and accepted the script Parvati had passed to him. "I would be honored."

She smiled. "Okay, well, it will start out with Draco at his castle. The beggar woman, to be played by Hannah Abbot, comes to offer him a rose. Professor, if you would like to start..."

Dumbledore smiled, and began. His voice was, for loss of a better word, magical. The words drifted around the hall, and all who listened seemed to be caught in a spell.

"Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired; the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift, and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell upon the castle, and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his 21st year. If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, than the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"

There was a pause of silence, when the hall burst into applause. Dumbledore just smiled as if he had done nothing at all, and peered at Parvati over his half-moon spectacles. Once the clapping had died down, Parvati went on.

"Well, this is where we go to the first song. Lets have a go at it, shall we?" She waved her wand, and music started to play in the background.

"That practice was amazing! I love it so much! I can't believe I got the part of Belle! Aren't you just ecstatic?""

The practice had ended, four hours later. It was now 10 o'clock, and Draco couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Someone's rather happy."

"Yes! Aren't you?"

He grinned. "Sure. I just can't wait to be turned into a hairy monster."

"Aw, don't worry, I am sure you'll look great."

"I do not care what I look like, what if the spell goes wrong?"

"Well, I can see you don't care about what you look like, or else you would choose a much better shirt than that for a practice."

"Piss off, Hermione."

She kissed him on the cheek, flicked his nose, and ran off to the common room.

"That hurt!" Draco called after her, rubbing his nose. She smiled to herself.

After four weeks of practicing, the cast of the Hogwarts production of Beauty and the Beast were perfectly ready for their big night. The opening production was to be done the next day at 7:00 pm. Parvati was a wreck.

"Okay, okay, okay. Lets breathe. Everyone just calm down. We're ready. We are! Okay. Okay..."

"Parvati! Calm down," Hermione urged, "you're the only one who is nervous! We are ready! We know we are."

Parvati smiled at her. "I know. You are. Alright! Everyone. We have run through it several times, and I know we are going to do great! Everyone go and get some sleep. Get here at noon tomorrow, we will run through it once more before the show. Hermione, Draco, I was wondering if you would mind staying after with me for a while."

"No problem." Draco replied.

"Sure." Hermione nodded.

"Great. Everyone else, sleep well! See you tomorrow here at noon sharp!"

The crowd of students left the Great Hall chattering happily.

"Good," Parvati exclaimed, turning to Hermione and Draco, "finally, some peace. Anyway, the reason I asked you to stay was because I think we need to work a bit on the ball dance during "Tale as Old as Time". I don't think you have it quite down pat, as you seem to be stepping on each other's feet at the moment." The two blushed. "Now, Hermione, I think you really need to put on your dress for this, as you REALLY need to know what it is going to be like. Here."

She handed Hermione a beautiful golden ball gown. There was a sharp intake of breath from Hermione as she looked at it. It was obviously one of the most delicate dresses she had ever worn.

"Well, don't just stand there looking at it! Go put it on!" Parvati scorned, yet with the trace of a smile.

Hermione beamed and ran off to get dressed. Draco watched her go with a smile.

"She really loves you, you know." Parvati said as Hermione left.

"I know." Draco breathed.

"You're lucky to find love like that. It doesn't come along all too often."

"I never thought in a million years that it would come to me. I always thought that I was too---cruel. Cold...... but then I met Hermione. It's like heaven with her."

Parvati looked at him. "You should tell her that."

Draco was silent until he heard Hermione's footsteps. They were soft and slow, as if she were favoring each and every one. He looked up to see her enter the room.

He caught his breath. She was stunning. Even with her hair down, she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her. The dress copied that of the movie; a stunning golden ball dress. It was tight at the top, with two straps that went around her arm rather than her shoulders. The skirt was long and full, with a lace trim, and slight arches where the fabric was sewn to look bunched.

"Hermione, you look positively radiant!" Parvati exclaimed, running to examine her closer. "Is there anything wrong? Too big? Too small?"

"No. Its perfect." Hermione looked at the dress with as much excitement as Parvati. "What do you think, Draco?"

He just stared. He couldn't speak at the moment, as it seemed the wind had been knocked out of him.

"Draco? What do you think?" Hermione asked again, looking up at him.

"I think he likes it." Parvati whispered. Draco nodded absentmindedly.

"Alright. Now, both of you, get together and lets take it from scene 12. Try not to step on the dress, please. I can fix it, but I'd rather not have to."

Draco and Hermione met in the middle of the Great Hall. They held each other as Parvati instructed them, but when they started dancing, she sighed in exasperation.

"What? We're doing it right, aren't we?" Hermione asked.

"No! Well, yes. I mean...well, it doesn't look natural. You look like you've practiced it a lot."

"We HAVE practiced it a lot!" Draco moaned.

"No, I mean, you look like you are trying to look like you are dancing instead of actually dancing."

"Its hard with you there, picking us apart!" Draco complained, obviously annoyed.

Parvati looked as if she was about to retort, when she stopped. She looked as if she was thinking, when she smiled. "Alright. I've got it. You two- practice here, together. I am going to go take a break. Try to really dance, not practice dancing. Just, dance. No steps... no plans... just- dance."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, and she winked. He shook his head in annoyance as she walked away.

"What are we suppose to do now?" Hermione asked.

"I would presume she meant for us to dance." He took her in his arms and tried to dance as if it was normal. It was just too hard- too many steps and circles, trying to get it all in time with the song.

"Dammit! This is impossible!" Draco screamed. "It wouldn't be so hard if every step wasn't planned exactly as Parvati wanted it. This damn music is controlling us!"

"Then lets turn it off!" Hermione replied, waving her wand. The Background music of "Tale as Old as Time" turned off. She walked back to Draco and put her left hand on his shoulder, and took his in her right. "Now, lets try to just dance."

Draco nodded, and they both started. It was a lot easier when they didn't have to think of what they should be doing at that moment. As they danced, Draco thought about Parvati and what she had meant by telling Hermione what he felt about her. Surely she already knew, right? She had to! But as he thought about it, he realized that Hermione might not. And the thought came to him that even if she did, he could tell her again. He would tell her every second of the day, if he had to.

A memory came to his mind of when he was a child. He had been watching a muggle movie while his mother looked in a muggle dress store. She had been told to get one for a party- a costume party. Draco had wandered over to a video store and seen a movie being played in a tv in the window. The song came back to his thoughts now, and he started to softly sing it.

"So many times out there,

I've watched a happy pair

of lovers walking in the night.

They had a kind of glow around them,

it almost looked like Heaven's light.

I knew I'd never know

that warm and loving glow,

though I may wish with all my might.

No heart as cold as my heart,

was ever meant for Heaven's light.

But suddenly an angel has smiled at me, ( He looked into Hermione's eyes)

and kissed my cheek without a trace of fright.

I dare to dream that she,

might even care for me.

And as sing these words tonight,

my cold dark heart seems so bright.

I swear it must be Heaven's light!"

Hermione looked up at him with tears in her eyes as he sang. Soon they were staring at each other, not really notcing that they were now dancing perfectly. They were lost in each other's eyes, forgetting about everything in the present. They flew around the ballroom, circiling and spinning. The only other people who noticed this beautiful sight were Parvati, Harry and Ron.

"Do you see why I got you, guys?" She asked quietly, watching the two float around the room. Ron was glaring, but now that glare held more sadness than anger. Harry was watching them apprehensively. Parvati continued. "I know Draco seems evil, and I know you all have had your differences (Ron coughed slightly). I also know that both of you are still having some bad thoughts about the two of them, mainly Draco. But just look at them! They are in love. You can't find that love just anywhere. That is true love."

"B-but Malfoy is evil. He is! I know he is..." Ron argued, more to comfort himself.

"He was evil, Ron. He WAS evil. I look at this as a Beauty and the Beast parallel.(Harry raised an eyebrow, so she continued.) Draco is the beast. Maybe not on the outside, but inside. Now, however, after meeting Hermione, he has learned to love. And in learning to love, he has now changed. He isn't the Beast anymore. Now he is in love. That's why I chose Draco for the part. Not because he was the best, which he wasn't, but because he IS the Beast. He IS the monster, and he HAS changed. Do you understand?"

Ron looked at her and back to the couple. Harry looked like he believed her, but he didn't really want to. Parvati sighed, and waved her wand. The music of "Tale as Old as Time" came on in the background. She sang the words, glancing at Harry and Ron.

"Tale as old as time.

True as it can be.

Barely even friends,

than somebody bends. Unexpectedly. (She adds, laughing to herself.)

Just a little change,

small to say the least.

Both a little scared, neither one prepared,

Beauty and the Beast.

("But, but they were enemies!" Ron argued.)

Ever just the same!

Ever a surprise.

Ever as before,

Ever just as sure as the sun will rise! (At this moment, the setting sun filled the windows of the Great Hall, illuminating Draco and Hermione, who still seemed to be oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.)

Tale as old as time,

tune as old as song!

Bittersweet and strange,

finding you can change,

learning you were wrong.

Certain as the sun,

rising in the east!

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme,

Beauty and the Beast.

Tale as old as time.

Song as old as rhyme.

Beauty and the Beast."

"Off to the cubbord with you now, chip. S'past you're bed time!" she added, jokingly. "But really. Lets go- I am sure that they would like to stay here uninterrupted."

She tapped Ron and Harry on the shoulders, and the three of them left the Great Hall as quietly as they had come.

Ten minutes later, Parvati decided that her stars needed some sleep, so she entered the Great Hall. She felt rather bad about breaking them up, as they seemed to be having a very romantic moment, but it was either that or let them dance until people came in to set up for breakfast.

"Ahem." She coughed.

They didn't respond.

"Ahem ahem! Cough cough!"

They circled once more, Hermione lifting slightly off the ground.

"Guys!" Parvati screamed. The couple looked over suddenly, as if snapped out of a trance. "Thank you. I felt as if I should tell you that it is around 11:30, and you need some sleep. Go to bed, your doing wonderfully."

The couple stared at her for a moment, then blushed and started to walk out of the hall, mumbling strange apologies.

"Ahem, Hermione? The dress?"

Hermione looked down at herself and started to laugh. "Sorry, sorry. I forgot!"

Parvati grinned. "Yeah, sure. You're just trying to steal it! I know how you think..."

Hermione laughed and ran to get changed. Draco smiled at Parvati.

"Thanks."

After getting changed, Hermione and Draco exited out into the hallway. They walked back to where they turned to go to different common rooms, and turned to each other.

"I had a very good time at practice, Draco."

"I know you did." He smiled and kissed her.

"I love you" she mumbled.

"I love you." He replied, caressing her face. They stood there for a moment, staring at each other.

"Ahem."

Draco and Hermione turned their heads, but did not let go of each other. Pansy Parkinson stood there, grinning evilly.

"Can I help you?" Draco asked, with more than a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yes, actually, you can. You see," she took a step forward and handed Draco a letter, "this came for you." She giggled and ran off.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

Draco turned the letter over and saw it was printed with a green seal. His face turned white.

"What is it? Draco, what? What's wrong?" She had let go of his shoulders, and was now peering curiously at the letter.

Draco''s voice shook. "It-it's my f-father."

Hermione took a step back. "What does that mean?"

"I-I don't know. But it is never good." With a shaking hand, Draco opened the letter. When he took out only a piece of parchment, he was confused. The only times he got a letter from his father was when he had done something wrong, and there was usually some form of a painful substance to punish him. It was eerie to receive only a letter.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked, carefully examining the backside of the letter.

"Draco,

Floo home.

Father."

"That's all?" Hermione asked, surprised.

Draco turned over the paper. "Yeah. That's it." His voice was shaking. "This isn't right. Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong."

"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked tentively.

"Its obvious, isn't it? I've got to go home."

"What? Why? Your father will- he'll..." She trailed off.

"It would be much worse if I don't go."

"You can't! I mean, well..." she furrowed her brow, then, "Yes! You can't! Its impossible. There is no way for you to floo home! No teacher would allow you to use their fireplaces!"

Draco laughed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Yes, that would make sense, wouldn't it?" His smile snapped into a straight line, and there was no laugh in his face as he added "Aside from the fact that I don't need a teacher's permission."

"What?"

"Come on, Hermione! Do you seriously think that my father, one of the richest men on the planet, would want me to ask a professor if I could go home? No. He is much more clever than that. Follow me."

The two of them walked down to the dungeons.

* * *

Oh, CLiffy? My, my, my.. Dear me. I have forgotton how bad it is to get a cliffy. Oh well! You can deal!

And I apologize for not getting this out.... on time.... or ever....

SORRY!!!

I will give you a prize though! Ask for something, and I will give it to you! Name it!

REVIEW PLEASE! IT'S THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET ANY BETTER!(Which, believe me, can DEFINITELY happen...)

-SBR (check out my lj, too... )


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